cliff, this benefits him. the public will blame the republicans. okay. i suppose it's entirely possible. in fact, it's probable of that category. but does obama really want to start the second term going into recession again? the interesting thing, with this offer on the table, sequestration and the expiration of bush tax cuts for everyone is the best option for republicans right now. but as least under that, you can dispel this notion -- the biggest obstacle is this attitude of the public that we can solve the problem of the debt, we can solve the problem of entitlements just by raising taxes on the rich a little bit. it's fundamentally not true. but my attitude to say all right, fine, let's go with that. let's even go with tax increases for everybody. even that bottom bracket going up from 10% to 15%. let the bush tax cuts -- if they must expire, let them expire for everybody. and then we'll see how far tax increases can take us in dealing with these problems. and the answer is not that far at all. >> not th